Businesses are generating and maintaining more data, and it all has to be stored somewhere. Therein lies a dilemma because many on-site servers can no longer handle the load. That’s where the cloud comes in. It allows vast amounts of information to be stored on multiple internet-connected servers throughout the world.

High demand

The technology has become invaluable for companies bursting at the seams for more capacity, fueling a demand for cloud-computing talent in Los Angeles County. It also prompted 19 Los Angeles-area community colleges and several local high schools to collaborate with Amazon Web Services and its AWS Educate program to offer a regionally recognized cloud-computing certificate.

The collaboration was announced Thursday, Aug. 9.

The 15-credit certificate program — offered through the California Cloud Workforce Project — targets in-demand cloud-computing skills. Under the initiative, each participating community college is partnering with at least one high school in the greater L.A. area, some of which are in economically disadvantaged areas. Students who enroll in the program will also have access to workshops and AWS training sessions.

Big salaries

The move will pay off for students who complete the two-year curriculum. Forbes reports that workers with certifications in virtualization and cloud computing earn an average salary of $112,955 a year.

“Cloud has become the new normal as companies of every size across all industries are now deploying new applications to the cloud by default, and are looking to migrate as many of their existing applications as they can as quickly as possible,” said Ken Eisner, a senior manager with AWS Educate. “For enterprises, the question isn’t ‘if’ anymore, it’s really just ‘how fast can we move?’ and ‘what are we going to move first?’ “

Hoping to go statewide

The 19 community colleges — which include Citrus College, Long Beach City College, Los Angeles Trade Tech, Pasadena City College and Mt. San Antonio College, among others — are hoping to take the program statewide. The California Cloud Workforce Project also is looking to forge agreements with four-year institutions to establish an associate’s degree in cloud computing.

The curriculum was established at Santa Monica College and will be rolled out to the other 18 participating community colleges.

Koda Kol, who teaches cloud courses students at Santa Monica College and to students from Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, said they are learning a variety of skills. That includes how to create a website, set up servers and how to set up virtual private networks.

“These are students who will spin off the next Netflix or Airbnb,” Kol said. “We did a study that indicates that cloud computing is one of the most in-demand industry sectors at the moment.”

Lots of momentum

“East Los Angeles College will be the second one to roll it out this month and others will join as soon as they can get their faculty trained,” he said. “All 19 community colleges are committed to deploying this as rapidly as they can.”

More than 300 students participated in cloud-computing courses at Santa Monica College during the 2017-18 school year, Allen said, and another 230 are lined up for the fall semester.

“This will create an army of skilled cloud-computing workers,” he said. “There is a lot of value in the cloud for companies in every industry in throughout the L.A. area.”

Bill Scroggins, president of Mt. San Antonio College, said faculty there will begin assessing the cloud curriculum when classes resume in two weeks.

“In the area of computer technology, a curriculum review happens almost on a quarter-to-quarter basis,” he said. “We keep tabs on competency reports from businesses and we also hear back from graduates as to what works for them. Computing is evolving fast and we have to stay on top of it.”

Students who are interested in the cloud program can call the Los Angeles Community College District at 213-891-2000 for more information about classes.

Kevin Smith handles business news and editing for the Southern California News Group, which includes 11 newspapers, websites and social media channels. He covers everything from employment, technology and housing to retail, corporate mergers and business-based apps. Kevin often writes stories that highlight the local impact of trends occurring nationwide. And the focus is always to shed light on why those issues matter to readers in Southern California.